


Knots and Nos

by hujwernoo



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Consent Issues, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Light Bondage, M/M, basically all the stuff about Klaus' past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:06:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22116838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hujwernoo/pseuds/hujwernoo
Summary: Dave learns a few things about Klaus. Klaus learns a few things about consent (mainly: it exists).
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 34
Kudos: 463





	Knots and Nos

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my series 'Comes and Goes (in Waves)', and then I realized it could also fit into canon. So this can be found in there, but I am also sharing it with those who don't read my series (it's okay, I forgive you).
> 
> Trigger warnings at the end.

Not for the first time, Dave can’t believe how lucky he is.

He looks down to check again and, despite all logic, Klaus is still there. He’s asleep in Dave’s arms, his breath puffing out little spots of warmth on Dave’s bare chest. The moonlight slants in through the blinds and falls on his face, lighting on his curls like a halo.

Dave has to remind himself how to breathe. _God,_ this man is so beautiful.

And he likes Dave. He kissed Dave back, when Dave took that first stumbling step back in the bar that made him feel like his stomach was in triple knots. Klaus is so careless and free with himself that half the unit suspects he enjoys men, but Dave wasn’t at all sure that he’d respond to the kiss. Just because Klaus probably liked men didn’t mean he’d like _Dave._

_He does, though,_ Dave thinks giddily, glancing down at Klaus again. _He does._

As Klaus made _very_ clear. If Dave had had any doubts of his sexuality before tonight, they would have been very, very swiftly eradicated. He’d fooled around with a few guys back home, but they’d been just as fumbling as him. Klaus, it was clear, had _experience._

Dave bites his lip at that thought, a pang of worry marring his contentment. Klaus is - he’s amazing. Bright and vibrant and beautiful and _free_ in a way Dave can only dream of. Plus, he’s obviously been with quite a few people more experienced than Dave.

Dave can’t help but wonder if Klaus sees this as a one-night thing. Because really, why would he want to stick with boring, ordinary Dave? Klaus probably knows tons of people back from wherever he’s from that are much more interesting and amazing and completely unsurprised you can use your tongue like that, just like him.

Right on cue, Klaus shifts a little, blinking sleep away from his eyes. He mumbles something, and blinks fully awake when he notices Dave’s arm wrapped around him.

Dave instantly feels horribly awkward, but he swallows it down. There’s nothing to be awkward about. People cuddle after sex. He does know _that_ much.

Klaus eventually dismisses it, and looks up at Dave. He grins, and his eyes catch the moonlight and take Dave’s breath away. Again.

Dave is very certain that Klaus Hargreeves’ eyes should be declared a national treasure. Dear Father in Heaven, they’re _beautiful._

“I,” Klaus announces happily, “Have wanted to do that for _months._ ”

Something swells in Dave’s chest, and he finds himself grinning back at Klaus. “Me too,” he confesses. “Maybe - maybe we could do it again sometime?”

Klaus’ eyes glint. “How about right now?”

Dave has no objections.

**********

“It’s very simple,” Klaus explains. “Just the same knots we use for the tents.”

Dave nods, inspecting the rope. “Okay, I can see that,” he agrees. “So I just tie you up - uh, wrists apart, or together?”

Klaus blinks, tilting his head. “Uh - apart, I guess?”

Dave nods again, and feels his stomach turn over again. This time, however, it’s from excitement. He’s never - _done_ anything like this before. Sure, he’s _thought_ about it, more times than he’ll ever admit to anyone (especially Klaus, who’s been the starring role in those fantasies more and more lately), but he never thought he’d get to _do_ it.

His fingers do _not_ fumble on the knots, no matter what Klaus’ amused commentary says. Dave’s heart seems to be beating much faster than normal.

“What’s your safeword?” Dave asks, checking to make sure the ropes aren’t too tight. The last thing he wants is to cut off bloodflow to Klaus’ hands.

“- What?” Klaus laughs, craning his neck to look up at Dave.

“Your safeword?” Dave repeats, tugging on the ropes with a frown. It looks fine to him, but he wants to be extra sure. It’s not like he’s ever tied anyone up before.

“Why would I need that?” Klaus says.

Dave stops, and blinks at him.

“In - case you want to stop?” Dave says, and he’s confused enough that it comes out as more of a question than he intended.

Klaus blinks at him right back. “Uh,” he says after a moment. “I don’t know if you noticed, but the whole point of this is that I _can’t_ stop it,” he gives his wrists a shake, rattling the bedstand.

“I -” Dave says. He blinks at Klaus again, helplessly. “What? No, Klaus, if you want to stop for real we’re stopping. That’s - _important,_ isn’t it?”

Klaus looks deeply confused for a second, before his face relaxes and he snorts. “Okay, fine, my safeword is ‘stop’, then. Happy?”

“...Sure,” Dave says, still feeling a little confused.

But then Klaus arches up, eyes sparkling, and murmurs, “Do I have to say _start_ now?”, and Dave’s brain is otherwise occupied.

**********

Klaus stares at him.

Dave is breathing hard, but he stares right back. Their breaths are the only sound in the hotel room.

Finally, Klaus looks down at himself in bemusement, then back up at Dave, as if surprised to see the space between them.

“You….stopped,” Klaus says, as if testing the words.

Dave blinks.

“Well, yeah,” he says. “You said to.”

Actually, Klaus only said the first half of the word before cutting himself off. Dave’s mind had already recognized the word, though, and he’d pulled himself away before he fully realized Klaus didn’t finish saying it.

“I….yeah,” Klaus says, slowly, eyeing him. “You - why, though?”

Dave runs the words through his mind, then again. They still don’t make very much sense.

“....Because you said to,” he repeats. “You wanted me to stop, so I did. You _did_ want me stop, right?”

Klaus looks uncomfortable. “I - guess? But, I mean - you were having a good time, right?”

Dave stays quiet for a few seconds.

“I think,” he says eventually, “I should untie you now, and we should probably talk.”

Klaus still looks uncomfortable, and very confused. Dave unties him easily - he didn’t make the knots tight. Klaus’ wrists are, thankfully, only slightly red. He rubs them as he sits on the bed, legs swung over the side. Dave pulls over the only chair.

They sit there, regarding each other. Dave notes that Klaus is still beautiful like this, backlit by the light filtering in through the shades. Klaus glances to the side, and his profile is briefly outlined against the window.

“Why do you think I wouldn’t stop if you wanted me to?” Dave says abruptly.

Klaus jumps a little at the address, looking back at Dave. He frowns, half a dozen expressions flitting through his quicksilver eyes.

“Did _you_ want to stop?” Klaus asks.

“If you wanted to, yeah,” Dave says.

Klaus huffs a little and shakes a head. “No, I mean, regardless of that,” he says, waving a hand. Like he’s brushing away his opinion entirely.

“No,” Dave says, suddenly possessed with an unidentifiable emotion. “No, Klaus, not regardless of that. I want to do this with you - _with_ you, not _to_ you. I want you to want this as much as I do. If you _don’t_ want this, I - Klaus, how could you think I’d want that?”

“What - no, no, no!” Klaus waves his hands frantically. “I do want this! I swear, Dave, I really want this, I’ve been thinking about it for _ages,_ trust me, I just said to stop because of a few - memories, nothing serious, I promise. _Believe_ me, I want this.”

“Memories?” Dave asks, his stomach churning. “I don’t - Klaus, what memories?”

“Nothing,” Klaus says.

Dave almost opens his mouth to ask again, but there’s a tension to Klaus’ shoulders that wasn’t there before. He closes his mouth and swallows down the question. He stares at Klaus.

“Okay,” Dave says, a little desperately “Okay, you - you want to do this. And then you had second thoughts in the middle, and you wanted to stop. So - why are you confused that I _did_ stop?”

“Well,” Klaus says, after a very pregnant pause. “It’s never really happened before. I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Never happened before,” Dave repeats. He thinks he sounds a little faint, but he can’t quite tell because he seems to be very distant from his body all of a sudden. “Klaus, do you mean you’ve wanted to stop having sex before, and whoever it was didn’t stop?”

“Uh, yeah?” Klaus tilts his head. “I mean, I mostly always said yes beforehand, so it’s not a big deal.”

“Mostly,” Dave repeats. He seems to be having trouble breathing. “You _mostly_ said yes. So there were times when you - didn’t.”

Klaus looks uncomfortable again. He shifts on the bed. “Well, they didn’t ask. I _would_ have said yes, though. Be kind of ridiculous if I didn’t. Like, literally hundreds of people have fucked me, Dave. It’s _not a big deal._ ”

Dave….processes that.

Several minutes pass.

Eventually Klaus coughs slightly and looks away. “Okay!” he says, sounding several shades too chipper to be genuine. He stands and starts gathering his clothes. “It was fun, Dave, really it was. Don’t feel bad about the safeword thing, that’s all on me, and I guess I’ll see you back at the base. Hope you enjoy the last couple days of leave, and I hope we can retain a good working relationship because that’s _kind_ of critical in a war zone -”

“What?” Dave says, standing up in surprise. “What - you’re leaving? Why?”

Klaus comes to a halt and blinks at him. “I - you want me to?”

“I don’t!” The words come out with unexpected force, and Klaus rocks back. Dave quickly backtracks. “Unless - you want to. I _won’t_ force you to stay. But why do you think I want you to leave?”

“Because I, um,” Klaus looks confused, and he gestures between them. He clears his throat awkwardly and looks away. “Most guys - or gals - don’t really - I mean, I’ve been with a _lot_ of people, and I’m not particularly discerning, and most people - I mean, most people like you don’t - that is, you deserve someone who isn’t - like that.”

“....I think I should get some say in what I deserve, Klaus,” Dave says quietly. “And you should get a say in what you deserve, too.”

Klaus looks confused, and terribly uncertain. He looks at Dave like he’s waiting for a punchline, like he’s not sure why anyone would say that with any measure of seriousness.

Dave swallows again. He sits back down on the chair again, and folds his hands in his lap. He nods at the bed.

“If you really want to leave, I won’t stop you,” he says, and he’s quite proud of how his voice doesn’t waver. “But I’d still like to talk, if it’s alright with you.”

Klaus looks at him, still uncertain. He glances between Dave and the door.

Then, slowly, he resettles on the bed.

**********

“Oh goodness me,” Klaus says, fanning himself. “What an _amazing_ coincidence, the two of us both being on watch tonight with absolutely _no one else around,_ what _ever_ shall we do with ourselves -”

“I have a few ideas,” Dave grins, and pulls his boyfriend(!) closer. He nuzzles Klaus’ neck, and takes a probably disproportionate amount of pride in how Klaus arches into the touch.

“Mmm,” Klaus hums, blinking sleepily at Dave, eyes dark and languid. “Well, color me intrigued.”

Dave laughs slightly, and leans in to kiss Klaus. It’s long and slow, and when they part it feels like eternity has passed, yet it turned out to be disappointingly short.

“I love you,” Dave breathes, the familiar giddiness at saying the words. He can’t ever imagine getting tired of it.

Klus swallows, eyes wide as always. Then he leans forward and kisses Dave again, this time with more fire. Dave reciprocates eagerly. His hands start to wander of their own initiative, and they reach down -

\- only for Klaus to hiss and break off their kiss, not quite _flinching_ back but doing something in the neighborhood of it.

Dave leans back instantly. “No?”

Klaus hesitates, sneaking glances at Dave before going back to trying to stare a hole in the jungle floor. “....No,” he says eventually.

“Alright,” Dave says easily, settling back against the tree. He opens his arms. “Cuddles?”

Klaus brightens and scrambles over, and then Dave has an armful of bony, angular boyfriend. Which is exactly where Dave wants him to be, so he allows the warm glow to spread through his chest.

“....I love you too,” Klaus mumbles into Dave’s chest. Like he’s not sure it’ll be accepted.

Dave’s breath catches in his throat. He didn’t expect Klaus to say it back for - well, he didn’t actually _have_ any expectations in that area, to be honest. He knows, now, about how tangled that particular area is for Klaus (not the entire story, but he can see the effects well enough).

He feels a smile spreading across his face, and doesn’t even try to stop it.

“Thank you,” he murmurs back.

He feels Klaus swallow again, and hugs him tighter. He pretends not to notice how Klaus is crying, just a bit.

“...You know,” Klaus says after sniffling for a few moments, “You remember about how Anderson was saying mashed potatoes couldn’t ever be sexy? I know for a fact that is untrue.”

“What?” Dave says. “No way.”

“ _Oh_ yeah, baby,” Klaus says, flashing him a grin. “You need an eyepatch, and some rope, and a willingness to smell like burnt hair for a week, but it’s _so_ worth it. Want to try?”

“Hell yes,” Dave says, his mind whirring, trying to fit all those pieces together.

“Excellent,” Klaus says, eyes bright. “Knew there was a reason I loved you.”

“And I you,” Dave says, without missing a beat.

Klaus presses his lips together in a smile that nearly splits his face apart. “Okay,” he says. “So first we’ll need to infiltrate the food stores….”

**Author's Note:**

> TW: someone dismissing the need for a safeword, vaguely-described sexual content, mildly ambiguous consent, refrenced rape/non-con, internalized slut-shaming. Also Klaus' nonexistent self-esteem.
> 
> Extra notes: This came about after I started wondering how on earth Dave reacted to Klaus' kind of obvious lack of understanding about how consent works, and how they would reconcile that with Klaus' various kinks. Because I would bet every last dollar that even if he likes various kinks, his experiences with them have been dubcon at _best._ So clearly I had to introduce him to the concept of 'safe sane and consensual'. It was exactly as much of an uphill struggle as you'd imagine.


End file.
